What is viral marketing ? What are the types of viral marketing?

Viral Marketing : Definition, Techniques and Advantages

Every day we hear all about viral marketing, a new viral video and content that spreads at the speed of light. But what exactly is it? And how did it get to be viral? Is it due to a viral product or viral advertising, viral campaigns or simply luck, that randomly makes something such a big hit. Viral content in digital marketing, usually has a well-designed viral strategy behind it, but virality is, in part, also due to luck, creativity and preparation.

What is viral marketing ?

Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people in their social networks, much in the same way that a virus spreads from one person to another.

Viral marketing typically supplies its audience with something of value for free. This can be something as simple as an amusing song or game. Whatever the viral content is, it must encourage people to share with others so as many people as possible receive the content’s message.

Viral Marketing Advantages

Viral Marketing is Low cost. What characterizes viral campaigns is that the users do a significant part of the work for the brand, which drastically cuts down the costs of dispersion. It is unnecessary to buy advertising or media space.
Potential of great reach. A viral video on the Internet has the ability to reach a huge international audience without having to invest a ton of money or make any extra effort. Due to this, a small company or even a private individual can go extremely viral.
It is not invasive. In viral marketing, the social media user is the one making the decision to participate and share content, so it lessens the possibility of the brand coming across as invasive. Like this, the perception of the brand and the interaction are significantly better, compared to more classical forms of advertising.

It helps build up your brand. If we really hit the bull’s-eye in terms of creativity, we are creating content so incredible that users themselves decide to share it and, hence create a personal connection with your brand. It is without a doubt an extremely powerful tool when it comes to branding and awareness.

What is Viral Marketing?; Definition & Examples & Tips

In this video, We will talk about Viral marketing. What is viral marketing? How to create a viral marketing campaign?

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Viral campaigns

Perhaps nothing is as effective and efficient in spreading your message as a viral marketing campaign. The idea behind viral marketing is to inspire people to spread your message for you. It’s been estimated that a successful viral campaign can have 500-1000 times more impact than a non-viral campaign.

What do most viral marketing campaigns have in common?

1) They’re organic

In the case of any sort of trend, whether or not something gets shared around is ultimately decided by your audience.

Content spreads organically. That’s how viral marketing works.

Oftentimes, it’s about being at the right place at the right time (or rather, saying the right thing at the right time). You can’t really explain memes or crazes such as the “does pineapple belong on pizza” debate.

That said, marketers can set up their content for sharing by having a pulse on social trends (more on how you can achieve that later).

How effective is viral marketing?

Viral Marketing is so successful because it creates the curiosity and desire needed to generate the demand for a product or service. It is designed to generate excitement over nothing. It builds upon itself by word of mouth and it is so important today in all areas of business.

What is the key to viral marketing?

Viral marketing has a lot in common with using memes in your marketing. In fact, creating a meme—or using one in a hilarious way that grabs attention—is a clear path to viral success. Just be careful that the attention you grab is positive attention, not negative.

What is Viral video marketing?

Viral marketing is the act of creating content that spurs organic sharing in your audience. Viral videos spread across digital and offline channels like a virus, capturing the attention of endless potential customers. … In other words, viral videos are unique because your customers do the advertising for you.

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2) viral marketing campaigns are timely

Simply put, trends come and go.

Although viral marketing campaigns have the potential to leave an impression on customers or the public at large, people have pretty short attention spans for these types of memes, hot topics and trends.

By the time one trend blows up, we’re often looking for the next craze. For example, how much longer until the now-ubiquitous “Woman Yelling at Cat” meme runs its course?

Brands should be wary of trying to repeat another viral campaign or exhaust a popular trend. Just because something’s hot now doesn’t mean it’ll have staying power for years to come. It’s the reason why brands aren’t still parodying the “Harlem Shake” or “Gangnam Style.”

3) They’re bold

Bear in mind there’s an inherent risk involved with viral marketing campaigns and tactics.

Going viral means doing something that grabs the attention of the public. That doesn’t happen by accident, nor does it happen by playing it safe.

However, it could have also been perceived as being too edgy or “trying too hard” in a different era. It likewise might not seem like much out of the ordinary if it came out today.

Not all viral marketing campaigns are controversial, but they tend to be out of left field.

And with that, we uncover the big potential downside of viral marketing: going viral for the wrong reasons.

1. Target the appropriate audience and channels

The very first step to develop a viral marketing campaign is to find out who your targeted audience are and where your target audience lives online.

Nothing goes viral on its own, you need to send the right message to the right people. Your message needs to create the interest, if you want them to share with others.

The channel is equally important as because if you are marketing in a wrong channel then you won’t be able to reach your targeted audience. If you are unable to reach the targeted audience then you won’t be able grow the interest.

2. Viral Techniques: Create videos

Another excellent way to go viral is by making a video. A video content can make your viewers engage in your product and experience.

If you add a video on YouTube or Daily motion, then you can share that video with your friends. If they find it interesting and useful they will share it as well.

Eventually, the video becomes popular, it can end up spreading all over the internet.

Moreover, if your video is really interesting then people will embed your video on their websites or blogs.

As a result, people will not only watch your video from video sharing platforms but also they will see your video from different websites. This will make it even more popular.

The thumb role for making a video viral is the more shocking, memorable or funny your video is, the more likely it is to go viral.

3. Do something unpredictable

The title explains itself.

If you want people to notice your marketing campaign, you need to do something unpredicted – something different.

People won’t bother to have a look if they know someone has done it before. People always want to see or learn new things.

Forget about trying to make it looks cool – everyone does that.

Forget about trying to promote your product/service as just being great – others are doing that too.

Careers in viral marketing

Viral marketing requires careful planning and a team with a strong understanding of modern media. This means there are many career opportunities in the field, including:

Web Designers

What do they do?

The majority of viral marketing campaigns involve Internet platforms. Any company that wants to succeed in viral marketing needs the services of a skilled web designer to create websites and other online materials. Web design is a highly technical field involving several computer programming languages and a good sense of visual composition.

A web designer should have a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing, computer science, or new media, or an arts degree in design. In addition to a resume with computer-focused work in it, web designers often have to provide work samples demonstrating their ability to create websites.

Content Specialist

A viral campaign is only as good as the content it wants people to share. Content specialists create materials like videos, games, blog posts, and other things consumers will want to share with others. This requires a diverse range of skills in new media, creativity, and communications.

Content specialists should have bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, public relations, or business. Previous experience in a media-focused position is very helpful as well.

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Market Researcher

Most forms of marketing, viral strategies among them, benefit greatly from research into the trends and habits of consumers. A market researcher reads existing consumer data and conducts original research to determine what consumers want and how to reach them. These tasks demand great attention to detail, computer literacy, and strong communication skills.

Market researchers should have a bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, psychology, sociology, or data analysis. It is useful to also have a background in database management or statistical analysis.

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